Sanzhenzhai Sauce Chicken (a specialty of Tongxiang, Zhejiang)

The appearance is reddish brown and shiny, the taste is crispy, tender and delicious, and the aftertaste is endless

It is said that as early as more than 100 years ago, there was a man named Wang in Wuzhen who opened a small deli shop and often sold pig head meat, Boiled -sliced cold chicken, fried fish, etc. In winter, we also deal in wild game such as sparrows and yellow quails

The chickens used for selling Boiled -sliced cold chicken in the store are all purchased from farmers out of the market. Once, the owner of the shop was greedy for a bargain and suddenly took in dozens of free range chickens. He thought: Anyway, the store sells them every day and keeps them in chicken cages. If you sell a few, just kill a few, so as not to have to buy them every day and cause trouble. Little did they know that cheap goods are not good, and some of the ones they bought were plague chickens. As soon as it was discovered, surgery was quickly performed, and no blood could drip out. How can the other dozens of chickens be sold all at once? What should I do? It was originally a small business, if these chickens are thrown away, it will ruin the old capital. As the saying goes, 'Do a thousand things, do ten thousand things, but don't do business at a loss.' This capital must always be recovered. The shopkeeper remembered that people in this area love to eat braised pork, which is made by soaking fresh meat with soy sauce and other seasonings. He thought why not soak these unsold chickens in soy sauce or other ingredients to make sauce chicken. Once the idea is established, take immediate action. He also thought that although these chickens have been soaked with soy sauce and other seasonings, they must put more effort into the pot and stove. He used all eighteen martial arts techniques of cooking cooked food in the past during the firing process. Reuse yellow wine, white sugar, and add cinnamon and cloves; Cleverly using seasonings and carefully firing. The chicken cooked in this way has a sauce red color and a fragrant taste. After people eat it, they say it is even more delicious and flavorful than sauce meat, with a unique flavor. In less than three days, dozens of chickens were sold out

The shopkeeper thought to himself, "I was originally doing this as a 'chopping board for a pot lid - urgent preparation', but now it seems that customers quite like to eat this kind of chicken. As the saying goes, "To make business prosper, cater to the hearts of customers." Why don't we take this opportunity to do business? So he selected new chicken and female chicken as raw materials based on his past experience in cooking cooked food. Why use new chicken or female chicken for making salt chicken? The new chicken is tender and kneeling, while the female chicken is plump and delicious, with a good appearance. During processing, use the original juice to boil and make three soups, then add high-quality soy sauce, white sugar, yellow wine, spices and other seasonings. After cooking, apply a layer of sesame oil on the chicken body. The sauce chicken cooked in this way has a bright red sauce, is tender and delicious, and is full of color, aroma, and taste. At the same time, because it is made by distilling three soups from the original juice, the moisture in the chicken body and meat is basically evaporated, so this sauce chicken is easy to store, does not spoil in June, and does not freeze in December. It is a good gift that people can give to customers all year round. In this way, the fame of the sauce chicken suddenly went out. The shop owner has put some thought into the decoration in order to expand their influence. He wrapped it in lotus leaves and used red paper to nourish the dough. Since it is a famous product, the store number and license plate need to be printed on this red paper to have a sense of grandeur. What store number should I choose? In the past, food shops were usually called Zhai. The shop owner thought to himself, my surname is Wang, the name of the hall is "Sanhuaitang", and the shop name is "Sanzhen Zhai"! From then on, this Sanzhenzhai sauce chicken became famous. Now, there are still people in Wuzhen who can burn

Method of making Sanzhenzhai sauce chicken

Five spice sauce chicken

Five live chickens (weighing about 5000 grams), 200 grams of refined salt, 1000 grams of soy sauce, 150 grams of scallions and ginger, and 10 grams of medicinal ingredients

1. Preparation: After slaughtering the chicken, remove the feathers, pluck the roots, peel off the old skin on the mouth and feet, and wash thoroughly. Remove the internal organs, esophagus, cut off the anus, and rinse with clean water. Insert the right wing of the chicken from under the neck of the knife, so that the tip of the wing extends from the mouth and is attached to the back of the chicken; Don't put your left wing on the back of the chicken either. Gently break and cross the two leg bones with the back of the knife, and insert the two claws into the chicken's belly. Cut the scallions into inch sections, lightly pat the ginger with a knife, and wrap the medicine with a clean cloth

2. Cooking: Add water to the pot (to the extent that it covers the chicken), put in the chicken, cook it over high heat until it is fully cooked, then remove it from the water and wash it thoroughly. Pour the water used to wash the chicken into the pot and boil it together with the water used to cook the chicken, skim off any foam, add salt, soy sauce, scallions, ginger, and seasonings. Put in the washed chicken, press it on a metal grate, boil it over high heat, then transfer it to low heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked to perfection